TEN YEARS OF TN GUN DEATHS | TN Under the Gun

Ten Years of Tennessee Gun Deaths

Gun deaths are on the rise in Tennessee, and continue to outpace the U.S. average in three key categories:

Firearm fatalities, which include all forms of fatal gun violence.

Firearm homicides, which include all murders committed with a firearm.

Firearm suicides, which include any completed suicide committed with a firearm.

Below are a series of charts that visualize the data in these three categories.

The data is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) Fatal Injury Reports from 2013 to 2023, the most recent year fatal injury data is available.

Each category is divided between all ages and ages 0-17.

Tennessee is currently:

7th for firearm fatalities, all ages
6th for firearm homicides, all ages
11th for firearm suicides, all ages

7th for firearm fatalities, ages 0-17
8th for firearm homicides, ages 0-17
8th for firearm suicides, ages 0-17

For more detail on state rankings, click here.

Guns are now the leading cause of death for Tennessee children.

Firearm fatalities include all forms of fatal gun violence: all violence-related fatal shootings, including homicides, fatal domestic violence shootings, and legal intervention, as well as firearm suicides, unintentional shootings, and shootings where the intent or motive is undetermined.

Based on this data, on average, 4.3 Tennesseans die every day from gun violence, or one person every 5.6 hours.

Between 2013 and 2023, the rate of firearm fatalities in Tennessee increased 41 percent for all ages and 128 percent for ages 0-17.

TABLE - TN FIREARM FATALTIES 2013-2023 ALL AGES ALL INTENTS.png

TABLE - TN FIREARM FATALITIES 2013 - 2023 ALL INTENTS AGES 0-17.png

Firearm homicides include any murder committed with a firearm, whether the murder is the result of an altercation, a domestic situation, a road rage shooting, or during the commission of a criminal act, such as an armed robbery or retaliatory shooting.

The number of Tennesseans who were fatally shot in a homicide more than doubled from 2013 to 2023 for both adults and children.

Between 2013 and 2023, the rate of firearm homicide in Tennessee increased 97 percent for all ages and 141 percent for ages 0-17.

TABLE - TN FIREARM HOMICIDES 2013 - 2023 ALL AGES.png

TABLE - TN FIREARM HOMICIDES 2013 - 2023 AGES 0-17.png

Notation: ** indicates unstable value (<20 deaths); -- indicates suppressed value (between one to nine deaths)

Firearm suicides include any completed suicide where a gun was used. Firearm suicides are unique in both their impulsivity and their lethality. Unlike other methods of suicide, firearm suicides take little planning and are almost always successful.

The rate of firearm suicides in Tennessee is over 50 percent higher than that of the US.

On average, 2.4 Tennesseans take their own life with a gun every single day.

Over half of all gun deaths in Tennessee are suicides.

Between 2013 and 2023, firearm suicides in Tennessee increased 18 percent for all ages and 155% for ages 0-17.

TABLE - TN FIREARM SUICIDES 2013 - 2023 AGES 0-17.png